Extension Training on RUP Dicamba

Proof of having taken the RUP-dicamba trainining is required to apply these products, but is not required to purchase them.

A list of applicators who have completed the RUP dicamba training is regularly updated and can be downloaded from the NDA Dicamba Information website.

Labels for Monsanto’s XtendiMax, DuPont’s FeXapan, and BASF’s Engenia are available on both the university's Pesticide Safety Education Program RUP Dicamba Training website and the NDA Dicamba Information website.

Nebraska applicators completing the new training may apply Monsanto’s XtendiMax, DuPont’s FeXapan, and BASF’s Engenia on genetically modified Xtend soybeans. These herbicides kill broadleaf weeds but not Xtend soybeans. Since soybeans also are broadleaf plants, problems arise when traditional, or non-Xtend soybeans, have dicamba-related injuries.

Unlicensed individuals who plan to apply the new RUP dicamba products must have both the traditional NDA-issued license to apply RUPs and proof they have taken the new NDA-approved RUP dicamba training. Individuals can purchase the RUP dicamba products before completing the state-authorized training, but it is illegal to apply them without having completed the training.

The dicamba training is designed to help applicators better protect traditional soybeans and other sensitive crops from damage caused by particle drift, tank contamination, temperature inversions, and volatility. The training also will help applicators better understand the extensive new dicamba requirements for timing and recordkeeping.

The three new RUP dicamba labels have mandatory recordkeeping components that far exceed anything previously seen. (Sample dicamba record-keeping forms and related information are available on the NDA Dicamba Information website.)

Free Online Extension Training

The online dicamba training is comprised of four video modules that should take less than two hours to complete. Topics include

Manufacturers of the new dicamba products also are offering the required training.

The new training requirement comes after the federal Environmental Protection Agency in October classified the three newer dicamba products as RUPs and added new application, timing, and recordkeeping requirements to the labels. Nationally in 2017 more than 2,200 complaints about dicamba were said to have injured more than 3 million US soybean acres.